Immortal
by Reckon
Summary: What if little Kal-El didn't make it to Earth when he was supposed to? How would things change? All reviews welcome as this is my first fic on this site (although I have written some other fics elsewhere)
1. Chapter 1 - To the Moon

**Prologue**

The devastating toll the battle had taken was made apparent during the brief respite. Thousands of para-demons laid lifeless on the grounds that once flowed in the green hues of nature. It was now drenched in blood, sweat and the tears that fell from the remaining members of the Justice League as they remembered their fallen comrades – Aquaman, Cyborg, Huntress and so many more. But mourning would have to wait as the skies echoed loudly with the thunderous boom indicating Darkseid's arrival.

The fight was left to the more powerful of the remaining League – Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash, Black Canary, J'onn Jonzz, and the Green Lantern Hal Jordan. Yet none of them were able to do much more than breathe heavily and grimace in pain as they tended to their wounds: Wonder Woman had a broken left arm and collarbone which was not healing as quickly as she would have liked and needed; Batman had three broken ribs and a concussion; Flash was fast running out of energy and the cuts that were scattered across his legs were slowing him down tremendously; Green Lantern would probably lose his right eye and his ring was down to twenty percent power; Black Canary was nearly voiceless having unleashed her scream more than she could ever remember; and J'onns' telepathy was useless on the para-demons with the wound across his scalp showing no signs of closing anytime soon.

Darkseid approached: no emotion or thought evident on his stone chiseled face: "You have done well Earthlings, but it will not be good enough. Scores of para-demons are ready to converge on this planet and devour it to its last breath. Have you anything to say before you perish into the dust which riddles this planet?"

Batman began to laugh – a laugh that Darkseid considered to be one of desperation: "You laugh as the final moment draws near? Perhaps your bravery has dwindled and you realize the finality you are about to face?"

Batman continued to laugh, pausing between breaths to tighten his arms around his torso to prevent his ribs from hurting more. When his laughter subsided, he took a step back, looked Darkseid in the eyes and stated: "Actually, I laugh because the 'help' just arrived and he is not going to take kindly to you trampling his planet."

The Justice League members gawked at Batman, wondering if his sanity had snapped. Darkseid could only snicker, his lips forming a grimace that seemed out of place on the stone like skin upon his face: "There is nothing and no one that could…"

Before he could finish his words, the skies erupted in fire. All eyes moved to the heavens as the invading armada seemed to disappear from thin air, with only the wisps of smoke and small debris remaining to tell the tale of their presence. Darkseid's eyes roamed the skies looking for the cause of the disturbance, only to be met with blue cerulean eyes staring into the dark depths of his. The air displaced by the newcomer blew the League members back like tumbleweeds and forced Darkseid to actually step back from the sheer force.

The new presence glided effortlessly to the Justice League, back turned to Darkseid. Darkseid was amused; never had one been so arrogant and stupid to turn their back on the New God. He wanted to see how this would unfold, a new player in the game with the planet in the balance. "Took you long enough to get home," said Batman. "Sorry about that, didn't know there was trouble. I was about 10 light years out when I heard of the attack – news moves slowly in the Universe, great distances and all," stated the man. He was dressed in a tight fitting black suit that appeared to be made for stealth and grace while showing off a physique that left little to the imagination; a silver emblem resembling a stylized S sat upon his chest with a cape to match; his hair was cut short yet an unruly lock of hair sat upon his forehead; and his eyes were bluer than the purest of sapphires. Batman nodded, "Fair enough. Think you can handle this while we tend to our wounds?" "Shouldn't be a problem; I'll probably have to move up to 40% for this though, so steer clear for a few seconds," replied their flying savior. "40%? You haven't powered up to that level since…well ever," stated Batman in shock. "Well, better safe than sorry. I don't plan on staying here for the battle as it will just make things worse." Batman nodded and commanded the Justice League to fall back. His stare and tone were not to be taken lightly and since he knew more than they did, the League complied. They fell back about 20 yards but still within sight of Darkseid and the newcomer.

As the newcomer turned to face Darkseid, he took a moment to look to the horizon. It appeared that he was in a trance, frozen at the horrors he was seeing. But more than that, he was scanning the entire planet, trying to understand the scale of the damage. "You have done a lot of irreparable harm to this planet and I cannot allow that to continue. Do you have anything to say in your defense before judgment is rendered upon you?" Darkseid smirked even greater than before – a vision so ghastly that it would be seared in the minds of the League members for years to come. "I am Darkseid, the New God of the Universe and I am judged by no one. Tell me human, who are you to dare talk to me in that manner?" "The name is Kal-El and I am the last Kryptonian in this Universe. This planet is under my protection and for the atrocities you have committed, I will indeed be both judge and jury." "Kryptonian you say? Well, that is a surprise but nothing that can't be dealt with. Even on your best day, you are no match for me. I have lived for a thousand years and have conquered many more powerful than you could be. It will be a pleasure to kill you."

Kal-El's arms fell from their position across his chest to his sides. "You know what is special about Kryptonians? Besides their intellect, their bodies can absorb solar radiation. The more powerful the star, the more powerful the Kryptonian; red solar radiation makes us comparable to a human; yellow radiation makes us thousands of times more powerful; power from a blue star, well, let's just say cracking planets is child's play. But you want to know what is more intriguing than any of that?" "Is there a point to this babble Kryptonian," replied Darkseid. "Not very patient are you? Well, I'll just get to the point – you see the longer a Kryptonian absorbs solar radiation, the more powerful he becomes. And while I may not look it, I am very, very old; older than you in fact, with time to absorb not just yellow solar radiation, but solar radiation throughout the Universe." And without waiting for a reply, Kal-El shot forward, grabbed Darkseid and flew out into the cold recess of space.

"I couldn't even follow…I mean, they just disappeared," cried Flash. Batman smirked, "You _**were** _the fastest man on the planet Flash." "You mean he has access to the Speed Force as well?" "No, his ability is all within him, a product of his genetics and natural abilities." Flash stood there flabbergasted, not sure how to respond. He had believed that nothing was faster than the speed force, and yet this new comer had not just passed but leaped beyond that. "How is that even possible…?"

Batman knew they would all have questions and while he had some answers, most would have to come from Kal-El. Wonder Woman stepped forward, her arm having almost fully healed, "Will he be able to battle Darkseid or are we just biding our time?" Batman stared up into the sky, his fingers coming to the side of his cowl as if answering an incoming transmission, "Copy…will you be at the usual place?" he questioned. With a nod of his head, Batman looked to the League, "Darkseid has been dealt with. He has been placed within the Source Wall and should not be an issue for the foreseeable future. I know you have many questions and I will answer what I can. But if you want to know more, you will have to talk to Kal-El. What he stated is true – he is the last known Kryptonian in the Universe." Hal was about to interrupt but Batman put up his hand, "His existence has been kept secret, even by the Guardians at Oa. Very few will have heard of him and for good reason. You see, as he stated, Kryptonians absorb solar radiation, similar to how humans do but with much, much more efficiency and with the ability to use that radiation to enhance their capabilities. What makes Kal-El so different, and the reason for which his existence has been kept secret, is that he is over 3000 years old."

The League members stood with mouths wide open, in awe and in confusion of what they just heard. "You mean…" Wonder Woman started. "Yes, he is older than most civilizations here on Earth, even older than your Themyscira. Ask your Gods about him and watch their response. Kal-El has been here on Earth since he was an infant. His father and mother sent him out into space to save him as their planet, Krypton, was dying. In the aftermath of the explosion, his space vessel was caught in a temporal anomaly caused by the planet's collapsing core. Instead of coming to Earth during the 1960's as his parents had planned, he ended up on Earth around 1000 BC. Needless to say, he has been absorbing solar radiation for over 3000 years – he is, for lack of a better word, immortal and more powerful than anything we could imagine."

The League members were at a loss for words. Nothing made sense and yet they had witnessed it with their own eyes. Batman started to move forward, "If you want more answers, follow me." "Where are we going?" asked Wonder Woman. "To the moon…" was all that Batman said.


	2. Chapter 2 - Temporal Anomaly

_The bright flash in the star system hid the catastrophic event that had just occurred. Krypton was no more; the last of the once great civilization resided in a small pod, hurtling through space in an attempt to escape the pull of death.__Great care was taken in ensuring the pod would be able to withstand the forces of the planet's explosion – calculations, tests, failures and successes.__But even the greatest of minds cannot predict randomness; the unstable elements within the passing comet interacted with the megatonion pressure wave rippling through the system ahead of the escaping pod.__A wormhole; temporal anomaly; random space matter fissure (whatever you would like to call it) formed on the outskirt of the system, directly ahead of the projectile, swallowing it like a dark abyss._

_The third planet from the star called Sol was inhabited by simple creatures – quadrupeds that relied on genetic coding to survive. They were mostly massive in size and sustained life through the eating of plants or other quadrupeds.__Nothing on the planet resembled the organic life within the pod that was now hurtling through its atmosphere.__The heat of re-entry did little to phase the ship as its programming continued its mission, guiding the craft to its predetermined location.__What should have been Smallville, Kansas – a small, quaint but upstanding town in early 60's America – was nothing more than a dense savannah surrounded by marsh, swamp and rolling hills._

_The Kryptonian craft leveled out and landed as directed; the onboard system registering its exact location and updating the information to the onboard artificial intelligence (A.I.). Kel-Ex, the name given to the A.I. sent as a guardian to the life onboard the craft, began to flicker with small lights, registering the magnitude of the change in events.__While the location that the navigation system had taken them to was absolutely correct, the environment that Kel-Ex was expecting was not.__Based on a quick analysis of the organic life, species of plants and dating of minerals in the vicinity, it was concluded with a near 100% certainty that the pod had somehow ended up 3000 years ahead of the specific point in time it should have been in.__A review of the onboard diagnostic data provided insight as to why this had occurred – a temporal anomaly created when the shock wave from the explosion of Krypton interacted with a passing comet whose makeup was comprised of unstable elements._

_Regardless of how or why, the situation could not be changed and Kel-Ex still had a mission to perform: to protect and guide Kal-El, the son of Jor-El and Lara-El, last of the house of El and last of the planet of Krypton. To aid in this mission, Kel-Ex had access to data files that contained all the knowledge of Krypton that Jor-El was able to gather and store as well as technologies that would help Kal-El continue the legacy that was once Krypton.__It would not fail in its mission and it would not fail his master – and while Kel-Ex was just a machine, his programming was specifically altered by Jor-El and Lara-El to do what was necessary to ensure the survival of their only begotten son._

_Tapping into his memory banks, Kel-Ex begins to document as programmed: Day 1 on Terra, also known as Earth, third planet from the star called Sol as noted in the Kryptonian Knowledge Databank (KKD). Kal-El is…_

Kal-El stops the computer from proceeding. He doesn't want to give away more information than is necessary, something he has learned from past experiences. Knowledge is indeed power, and while spreading knowledge was ideal, sometimes people only needed to know the bare minimum. He looked at the faces of the Justice League as they registered in their minds what they had just heard. The heroes felt awkward and ignorant, not having known the extent of which resided within the moon orbiting their planet. Life from other systems was not new, but that one such as Kal-El was among them and outdated all of their civilizations was very shocking. The heroes were speechless, save for Batman who simply sat in one of the chairs in the room, engrossed at the data he was reviewing upon a device unfamiliar to them.

"We are all taught that the Kryptonians died with their planet and that their technology and knowledge died with them, and yet here you are…" said Hal Jordan, Green Lantern assigned to the sector that contained Earth. "The Guardians decided long ago, when they found out about me, to continue to pass that information along as truth. Kryptonians were renowned for their intelligence and amazing ability to harness solar radiation as a form of energy. They feared that there would be sinister forces at play that would conspire to attain me to use for their own purposes. It was easier to let the story continue as such. Besides, they didn't find out about me until about a thousand years ago when I began to do my own space exploration" replied the very calm Kal-El.

"How is it that we have not known about you, that you have been able to hide?" asked a curious Wonder Woman. Batman let out what almost sounded like a laugh as the other heroes turned around in confusion. "His powers are beyond anything you can imagine. He can move as fast as he needs to and never be seen if so desired. And his technology is beyond anything we have come up with, which allows him to live in stealth and in peace" stated a now serious Batman. Now talking directly to Kal-El, Batman states "Speaking of which, we need to figure out how to make interstellar communications faster. If you had gotten here any later we would have already met our demise. As it was, it took you hours to get here after I sent the message." "I agree and already have Kel-Ex working on some theories I came up with to make that happen. The real issue is distance and the fact that even light speed is not fast enough, especially given how far I am traveling these days" replied Kal-El. "Good. I need to get back to Gotham. Will you be by later with an update on the mission?" asked Batman. "Absolutely. Tell Alfred that I look forward to seeing him again" Kal-El casually responded. Batman shook his head in affirmation and then turned to the other heroes "I know everyone has a lot of questions but I suggest everyone get back to their respective places and assist in the cleanup. There is a lot that must be done in the coming days to repair the damage that has been done." The heroes all shook their heads in agreement although still filled with curiosity about Kal-El.

"Do you want some help with the cleanup?" asked Kal-El. "No. It's our mess to clean up – besides, you know how the Governments work – they are happy with what you give us and when you save us, but they still fear and disavow you. This is our mess…we ignored the warnings and this is the penance we pay" was the reply from a somber Batman. Kal-El nodded in response, fully aware of the mistrust and envy that humans are so easily prone to. Batman was one of the few he had friended throughout the years, having known the Wayne family from generations long past. Batman, known to him as Bruce Wayne, was the latest in a long line of previous Waynes that knew of his existence and shared in a mutual and beneficial relationship. The Heroes began to walk towards the way they came, headed back to a tattered and bruised home in need of much repair. Before leaving, Wonder Woman turns to Kal-El and states "I hope you realize that now that we know about you, we don't plan on letting you fade into obscurity. Given how powerful you are and what you possess, we need to make sure you aren't a threat to us, no matter what Batman may think or say." Kal-El grinned, "Duly Noted Princess." Wonder Woman held her chin up high and marched off while Kal-El continued to grin.

"Things are sure going to get interesting" he remarked to himself.


	3. Chapter 3 - First Impressions

Jebediah was not a stupid man, yet that did little to dissuade him in sticking his nose where it didn't belong. He knew nothing about the girl nor the situation she had gotten herself into – all he knew was that it was five men against one woman and that just wasn't right in his book. "Don't know what the lady has done to piss y'all off…don't really care. But it definitely ain't fair of you fellas' ganging up on her" he told the men as they turned to see who had dared to interrupt their little meeting visit with Madame LeAnne.

Startled by the new voice, LeAnne looked passed her assailants to the newcomer. He was dressed in black, from head to toe and while she couldn't get a good look at his face, she could see the dimly lit cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. He was tall and definitely athletic but it would still be many men against one. She took the moment of distraction to reach for the little blade she carried in her boot, steeling herself against the coming onslaught.

"You just took a wrong turn partna'. Do ya'self a fava' and head right back on around before we decide to properly welcome ya'" stated one of the assailants. He had a nasty scar running down the left side of his face, yet Jebediah had the feeling that he was the weakest of the bunch. He was at the center of the group, acting as leader; the two on his left were similar in height and build, probably brothers; the one to his immediate right was large and fat, probably slow but packing power; but the one he was most concerned with was the one on the far right who was hidden in the shadow cast by the buildings in the alley. His breathing was steady and calm, unlike that of his co-conspirators; his eyes, reflecting the little light that shone, bore an eerie quality that rubbed Jebediah the wrong way. He was confident he could take on the other four, even with the big brute mixed in there. But something about this one told him he might have bitten off more than he could chew.

"Well, you see I am new in this here town and wouldn't mind a proper welcomin'" he told the ring leader. "Ya' hear that boys, the stranga' is new in town. How 'bout we give him a good old Gotham welcome" said the leader as he stepped forward. As they all moved towards Jebediah, except for the man in the shadows, LeAnne stowed her blade and moved towards the door she had originally been walking towards in the alley before getting jumped. However, before she could make her escape, the man in the shadows was behind her with his own blade pressed against her neck. "Don't…Baron Savage still wishes to see you and he will not be disobeyed" he whispered into her ear. LeAnne stood deathly still – she was willing to die for doing what she believed in, but this man had scared her more than she thought possible.

Jebediah noticed right away that he alley was too narrow for the rifles the men were carrying and that the confrontation would start and end in melee. The leader was the easiest one to dispatch for Jebediah: a quick jab to his nose had blood gushing onto his face – taking advantage of his immediate distraction, Jebediah placed a solid kick to his sternum and put him down for the count. He immediately focused his attentions on the brothers who he expected were more coordinated in their hand to hand combat. Luckily for him, he had been trained by a traveling Shaolin Monk that he had rescued from Barron Savage's slave line working on the railway. While not a master, Jebediah could definitely hold his own. The brothers, coordinated and decently skilled, were not ready for the onslaught of speed and agility that Jebediah displayed. The roundhouse kick to one was then met with a solid back handed fist to the face by the other. Jebediah delivered a crushing elbow to the back of the neck of the brother he had just kicked and quickly swept the other brothers foot while smashing his sternum with his other free elbow as the brother was falling towards the ground. Both brothers lay writhing in pain on the ground, allowing Jebediah to focus his attention on the big brute. Yet, as quick as he was, taking on the three men had left the big ox of a man time to come around and get at Jebediah from behind. Feeling the big arms of the brute crushing his chest, Jebediah let out an angry yet painful yell. He had to get out of this before the freakishly big man broke some ribs or literally crushed him to death. Jebediah snapped his head back fast and hard, wincing in pain as his skull met the face of the man holding him in the life crushing hug. He felt the arms slack for just a second, enough time to stomp down his feet upon the dorsal of the other man and slide down to freedom.

Jebediah regrouped and put a few feet of distance between the brute and himself. He was breathing hard and suspected that he might have a few cracked ribs. While he wasn't in the bear hug for long, his opponent was amazingly strong and deceptively powerful. His breathing was shallow to keep the ribs from causing him any further pain and he was trying to quickly determine a plan of action. He needed to deal with his one quickly because his real concern was the man in the shadows. He had seen how the man moved with grace and finesse – exceedingly quick to come around the lady and hold her at knife point. He could see no fear in the man's eyes and knew it would be a true contest of will and power.

As he was determining his best course of action with the brute, he felt a whipping gust of wind that nearly blew his ear drums out. Before he could register what was happening, the big brute fell forward flat on his face; unconscious but breathing. Behind where he had stood was another man in shadows, but this time the eyes gazing back at him were warm and open, fearless yet humble, and perhaps the purest shade of blue he had ever seen. Something in his gut told him that he had nothing to worry about and that this new stranger was of no threat to him. His gut had saved him a million times over by now and he had no reason not continue trusting it.

Jebediah turned around to see LeAnne still held in the grasp of the dangerous man, knife blade tip still held securely against her jugular. "Alright mista' – hows' 'bout you let her go and we can act like this never happened?" stated Jebediah. The new stranger that has just felled the big brute spoke up "He is an assassin that works for Vandal Savage. His only mission is to obey his master's command and not to fail. He won't leave here without the girl." "I am with the Society of Shadows; I hope you have made peace in your life, for you are about to die" said the assassin as he moved towards Jebediah with such speed that he could do nothing but stand there, frozen in disbelief. As he saw the glint of light reflect off the sword the assassin seemed to pull out of thin air, a gust of wind blew his hat off his head and darkness overcame his vision. Within a second, the latest stranger had moved in front of him, countering the assassin's attack and had immobilized him. Jebediah was at a loss for words – he had never seen anything like this before and had no idea what had just happened. He had never been a religious man, but he thought that perhaps he was witnessing demons and angels for the first time. The stranger moved out from in front of Jebediah and into the little sliver of light that the alleyway allowed. He was a tall man, broad of shoulder with an unruly lock of hair that hounded his forehead. He appeared elegant and powerful, but radiated warmth and calmness. "The assassin will recover…he is just unconscious and will ultimately be punished by the society for his failure" the welcomed stranger told Jebediah. Jebediah could only nod his head. He had never before witnessed anything like this and wasn't sure what to say. Luckily the stranger began talking once again. "You have two cracked ribs, but nothing that won't heal on its own. What you did to help a woman you didn't know was courageous. There aren't many people like you in this world. I know you probably have a lot of questions, but now is not the time for us to talk. Take this card…just follow the instructions on it if you want to learn more. I promise I am no threat but I can't promise that your world won't be turned upside down form what you will learn. Think about it and make a decision when you are ready. I will take this lady to the authorities so she can get some help." Jebediah watched the man walk towards LeAnne, grab her and then disapper from sight. For a second he thought he saw the man fly off the ground, but he just couldn't believe that was possible. Then again…what does Jebediah Wayne really know about anything?


	4. Chapter 4 - Fact of Fiction?

As he sat at his work bench, Kal-El's mind was quickly processing the data in front of him. The boomtube used by Darkseid and his horde was a very interesting piece of equipment: it appeared to have a sentience to it that sought out power, regardless of the kind. It required an organic life form to siphon energy from in order to live; and in return, it would provide its host the ability transfer matter between two points in the space time continuum. How it did it, Kal-El had not deciphered yet. But he would, in time; after all, he is the son of who was once Krypton's greatest scientist, Jor-El, as well as Krypton's greatest strategist, Lara-El. While he grew up without his parents, Kel-Ex had made certain he knew where he was from and what standards he had to live up to. It was easy enough to learn and increase in intelligence as he grew, especially with the tutelage of Kel-Ex and the data available within the Kryptonian Knowledge Database (KKD). But his ever increasing knowledge outside of what Kel-Ex could provide was of his own making – partly genetics and partly his own desire in knowing and understanding everything he could. He had always been a curious person – from first stepping foot outside of his ship to even now as he explored the known and unknown galaxies of the universe.

The computer system would need more time to create the data that his newly developed algorithm was searching for. In the meantime, there were other things he could do before meeting Bruce this evening. He pushed away from the terminal at his workbench and floated to his sparring room. He had gotten into the habit of recording his power levels daily so that he could better gauge his capabilities and how much control he would really need to garner when he visited places outside of his fortress; one too many times, when he was still relatively young, he had lost control or misjudged his strength and caused some damage.

The lights immediately turned on as he crossed the room's threshold. The architecture within the fortress was literally out of this world – a replica of the fortress his parents had resided in on Krytpon, taken from the memory banks of Kel-Ex and enhanced with even newer technology that he had adapted and created from his father's stored schematics. For lack of a better word, the fortress was impregnable: not only was it secured via biometric scanners and DNA sequencing decoders, his use of telepathy and neurosensory technology assured him that only he could instruct the fortress in any way. The enhanced shell and walls throughout were made of Kryptonian armor that had been enhanced by Nth Metal that he had found in his explorations. So far, he was the only one that could even dent the material, let alone break through it. His incredible mind had also created stealth cloaking devices that were void of any energy signatures – it made anything invisible to not just the eyes, but to any technology and to any adept creature; not even the last Martian J'onn J'onzz, perhaps the strongest telepath in the universe, could find the exact location of the fortress without being permitted to by Kal-El. Yet, as intelligent as Kal-El was, he knew that arrogance was the forbearer of evil and thus never used his intelligence to handicap others or let himself get carried away in his abilities.

"Greetings Master El" said Kel-Ex through the audio system within the fortress. "You're capabilities assessment regimen is active and ready for you." "Thank you Kel-Ex" said Kal-El, moving towards the biometric scanner in the middle of the room. While this was good data for him to have, he wouldn't want it somehow falling into the hands of any enemies and thus had made sure to secure it as best as possible within the fortress. He placed his hand on the smooth slate that rose atop a pillar in the room. His hand was scanned as was the rest of his body; after a second, the room flashed green and holographic representations of weights and various exercise equipment appeared. "Shall we proceed Master El?" inquired Kel-Ex. "Yes, let's begin" replied Kal-El. After a few minutes of various exercises and tests, the results were ready for his review. "It appears that your overall power level has risen 2.78% since the last test, 2 Terran days ago. Initial data suggest that your cells are now storing more solar radiation than you can expand under normal circumstances. Only with tremendous effort or long periods of time without replenishment will your energy reserves be depleted. Based on data to date, it would take nearly 217.63 Terran years without solar radiation to fully deplete yourself of energy, even during the course of your regular activities. Of course, care should be taken as this data is only a statistical culmination of data to date. Any exertion will impact power levels and energy, depending on the type and length of use."

Kal-El nodded his head silently, Kel-Ex picking up on his master's apprehensiveness. Kal-El never wanted to be immortal, nor did he want to be so powerful that he couldn't be stopped. While he has always worked hard to follow in the righteous footsteps of his parents, he has always been afraid of becoming a monster, or of being used by one. "Log the data and encrypt per the standard protocol. Put the system on alert status and let me know of any issues that arise within our guarded sectors. I will be heading to Earth in a few minutes to discuss the latest news with Bruce. Enable all protocols for the fortress" he commanded of Kel-Ex. "Understood Master El" replied the guardian and protector of the last son of Krypton. For over 3000 years, Kel-Ex has watched over his master and while he was just a machine, he had developed a bond with his master that could not be replicated nor destroyed. As a machine, he had no feelings, had no thoughts – all he knew was command and action, logic and numbers. Yet somehow, perhaps because of the altered programming that Jor-El had updated him with before the ship left the Kryptonian atmosphere, he had grown to view the master as a son; as an extension of himself and as someone he would do whatever was required of to keep alive. Kel-Ex knew that he was not quite sentient, but he wasn't just electronic pulses either – he was something in between.

Kal-El floated through his fortress to the exit passing by the many rooms within the fortress. Three thousand years was a long time and like any other being, he had accumulated many things. While most of them were stored for prosperity's sake, some of his rooms were homes to endangered species. A run in with an intergalactic collector many years ago left him with some friendly and not so friendly creatures that had nowhere to go. Being who he was, he couldn't leave them to their own devices if they couldn't care for themselves. Some of the creatures communicated with him and voluntarily followed him to his fortress, knowing nothing was left of their own kind and not sure of how to survive away from home. Others had no way to communicate and all he could do was to provide for them as they were, hoping he would learn about them in time and assist them however he could.

There were also rooms dedicated to the technologies he had found over the millenniums. He was still working on some of them, trying to extrapolate what he could and adapting them for his needs and the needs of those he could help. Some items were simply stored away as they were only weapons of destruction and could not be made to be useful for anything else. Kal-El tried to not focus on how long he has been living, knowing it would only depress him slightly. In over 3000 years, he had yet to find someone to share his life with – not that he wasn't interested in women (be it Terran or not), but he had learned through Kel-Ex and the KKD that Kryptonians were known for finding their significant others through a telepathic connection – almost soulmate in its description. While they could have relationships with any being, true love, or at least a love that would be worthy of commitment, only came along with that internal connection. Never one to be a pessimist, Kal-El kept his head high and his hopes up as he left his fortress and entered the vacuum of space. Besides, there was data to review with Bruce and he wasn't sure he liked what he could make of it so far.


End file.
